Conservative pundit Candace Owens has been fired from The Daily Wire after three years. The firing comes after she became involved in a public feud with Ben Shapiro over the war in Gaza and promoted antisemitic conspiracy theories.
It’s always surprising to learn a prominent conservative figure has been fired or resigned from a top right-wing media outlet that already pushes harmful views and employs problematic figures like Shapiro and Matt Walsh. One can’t help but ask how a person’s actions or beliefs can be so problematic that even conservatives act to condemn it. However, it has happened before. Scott Greer stepped down from The Daily Caller after it was discovered he wrote for a far-right, white supremacist journal under a pseudonym. Meanwhile, Tucker Carlson was fired from Fox News, presumably for racist text leaks.
Owens’ firing may come across as suspicious to some, though, given her recent feud with Shapiro. Things got heated recently when Owens seemed to criticize Israel’s actions in Gaza, while Shapiro, like many conservatives, continues to staunchly support the government’s attacks on Palestinians. Late last year, she wrote a tweet stating, “No government anywhere has a right to commit a genocide.” The tweet is presumably referencing Israel, leading Shapiro to publicly slam her for her “disgraceful” views on the conflict. She responded with a Bible verse that read, “No one can serve two masters … You cannot serve both god and money,” insinuating she wouldn’t let her job interfere with sharing her viewpoints. Shapiro responded to this by suggesting she should quit The Daily Wire.
However, while one may think she was fired merely for disagreeing with Shapiro or showing support for Palestine, the issue is more complicated than that.
Why was Candace Owens fired from The Daily Wire?
Content warning: antisemitism
Owens’ firing from The Daily Wire was announced on the morning of March 22, 2024. The news was announced rather unceremoniously by the company’s CEO, Jeremy Boreing, who merely wrote on X, “Daily Wire and Candace Owens have ended their relationship.” Owens also personally confirmed the news on X, writing, “The rumors are true— I am finally free.”
So far, no one from The Daily Wire has confirmed the reason for the firing, leading many to assume it was her spat with Shapiro. However, it is more likely the result of her antisemitic views. Back in 2022, she received backlash after defending Kanye West’s blatantly anti-Semitic Tweets, claiming that he was not actually antisemitic and meant to write something else. Meanwhile, in 2018, she made bizarre statements about Adolf Hitler, in which he suggested that his actions were acceptable if he had only kept them confined to Germany. She stated, “You know, [Hitler] was a national socialist, but if Hitler just wanted to make Germany great and have things run well, okay, fine.”
Her firing appears to be tied to two recent incidents in which she expressed antisemitic conspiracy theories. On March 8, while speaking on The Daily Wire‘s Candace Owens, she once again doubled down on her support of West. She started claiming that both she and West were being threatened by Jews at the time of his tweets, including an individual who Michael Jackson supposedly “put on his enemy list.” According to her, the individual and his daughter threatened to “ruin” her life if she didn’t come out and say “things explicitly against Kanye.” She then took things further by suggesting there’s a “very small ring of specific people who are using the fact they are Jewish to shield themselves from any criticism.”
According to Mediaite, Owens also liked a tweet mocking a Jewish man who received death threats due to her statements and which promoted an antisemitic conspiracy theory that Jews drink Christian blood. Oddly, these horrific statements and tweets did not garner attention from any major media outlets until her firing from The Daily Wire.
As a result, many individuals are voicing their support for Owens, believing all she did was rightfully condemn genocide. However, for years, she has been touting conspiracy theories and making outrageous statements that have endangered the Jewish community. For even The Daily Wire to recognize the harm in her actions and beliefs emphasizes how outrageous and extreme they are.
(featured image: Jason Davis / Getty)
